THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[October 1, 



Interesting Letters From Our Readers. 



D 



ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND ACRES OF RABBIT BUSH. 



To THE KwTOR Of Thk India Rubuer World: 



DEAR SIR:- In vour article, "The United States Can Pro- 

 duce Its Own Rubber," reprinted in part by the "Literary 

 DiKest," you rvic\ 'm getting rubber from rabbit busli. I am 

 sending you :i ' ■'■' ilvise me if it contains much 



rubber as i I ' rabbit bush. This place I 



refer to con i ''nt I allow 65,000 acres as 



likely to be ^1 .1. - '•' other bushes. This bush 



grows at an elcvatiou of 4,0OU tu 5,000 feet and stands between 

 four and six feet in height. The sample is between five and 

 six feet. Does the strong odor have anything to do with the 

 rubber? There is water to be had if necessary. Can you five 

 me the name of a rubber company to wliich I may write.' Will 

 you to be so kind as to forward to some interested company the 

 sauiide of rabbit bush which I am sending to you? 

 Thanking you for your attention, I remain, 

 Very respectfully, 



Mrs. Florence E. Davis. 

 Los Angeles, California. 



MORE REGARDING AMERICAN-GROWN RUBBER, 

 To THE Editor of The India Rubber World: 



«lR sir —The interesting article, "The United States can 

 Produce its own Rubber," in the June issue of The India 

 Rubber World, unlocks some valuable inf"'''",^""" i^°"f";;"'^! 

 the possibilities of another source for the production of crude 

 rubber in Northern America. . . 



The article and the editorial comment emphasize a vital need 

 and they go far towards lifting the veil of uncertainty that has 

 clouded the horizon of a new and needed industry. 



Waiving the claims of guayule and pingue as being the most 

 valuable native plants for the purpose indicated, and assuming 

 that their value as economical producers of .crude rubber 1= 

 entirely too dependent upon the influence of irrigation on the 

 quality and quantity of tlie caoutchouc, we can take up a dis- 

 cussion of the Hall-r.oodspeed discoveries and add a few words 



° ThTtwopknts mentioned, the giant rabbit bush, (Chrysotham- 

 nus) and the dwarf rabbit bush, (£ncam.na)-belong to the 

 great Compositae family, and are relatives of the guayule ,Par- 

 thcnium) and pingue {Actinella). Both of the new plants contain 

 rubber and allied compounds. In certain qualities they both 

 excel the latter plants. The natural growth of both the guayule 

 and pingue is limited by local factors of altitude, moisture and 

 wind Both of these new sources of crude rubber, especia ly the 

 giant rabbit bush, have a much wider range of territory, altitude 

 and soil selection. The giant rabbit bush is a foot-hill or moun- 

 tain plant which selects dry rocky places along or in the beds o 

 dry gullies. It is not very abundant. The dwarf rabbit bush is 

 an inhabitant of the plains, is very abundant, and can be readily 

 orooagated. A most valuable characteristic of this plant is its 

 ability to thrive on alkali flats. It is also drought-resisting to a 



"we^ grant ""without discussion the claims for these plants con- 

 cerning their abundance, range or territory, and suitability for 

 cultivation under the most adverse conditions. As to their value 

 as producers of rubber of a grade better than or even equal to 

 that of "uayule, 1 am not so conhdent. Of the two plants, the 

 quality of the giant rabbit bush product seems to be a shade bet- 

 ter The product from the dwarf rabbit bush is inferior, being 

 tacky ; but the yield is larger and there is also a valuable resin 

 and essential oil. , , . , , , > 



However, the soft character of this rubber may have been 

 caused by a depolymerization due to storage of the dry plant 

 previous to extraction. Under these conditions such a change 

 takes place in guayule. In the matter of priority of discovery of 

 rubber in these plants, there will exist a doubt. 



The smaller bush is known as "grease wood" on account of its 

 burning qualities, and the stain made upon dry soil by an exuda- 

 tion from the plant. From a description of the plant, the writer 

 is inclined to the opinion that it is the same plant worked by 

 Werner and Ellis, who obtained a patent covering their process 

 and product in 1902, In 1903, while investigating the Colorado 

 rubber weed (pingue), the writer had both of these plants under 

 observation. Laboratory results, obtained from samples of these 

 plants from southern Colorado, balanced against yield and nat- 



ural supply, and other economic factors, were not of sufficient 

 importance to warrant a venture in their direction. About 1905, 

 a sample of the dwarf rabbit bush was forwarded to the Diamond 

 Rubber Co., Akron, Ohio, from Silver Creek, Colorado. This 

 sample also contained a small amount of rubber, much resin and 

 an essential oil. The resin would be of value in frictions and th« 

 essential oil useful in scenting soap. Tlie resin being of the 

 saponiliable type, it can be made directly into a natural-scented 

 soap. As these oils are usually highly antiseptic, such a soap 

 may have considerable medicinal value. 



At the request of Mr. Pearson, of The India Rubber World, 

 I prepared a few notes concerning "Possible Rubber Producers 

 in the Temperate Zone," This paper was read at the Third Inter- 

 national Rubber Conference, New York, 1912, and published in 

 The India Rubber World, June 1, 1913. Under the name 

 "Strobel's Rubber Plant" (named in recognition of the collector;, 

 mention is made of a shrub now identilied by means of the 

 excellent photographs reproduced in The Rubber World as 

 the dwarf rabbit bush. 



I am glad that the California Section of the National Council 

 of Defense, through tlie University of California, has taken hold 

 of the matter. I am again glad to know that the work is being 

 carried out by Professors Hall and Goodspeed. During the 

 past decade Professor Hall has aided me in identifying and 

 obtaining interesting plants in my search for rubber producers. 

 With the aid of The India Rubber World, 1 am certain that the 

 goal is in sight. 



Yours sincerely, 



Charles P. Fox. 



Cleveland, Ohio. 



THE RUBBER FACTORY IN SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS. 



To THE Editor of the India Rubber World: 



DEAR SIR: — It has recently come to my attention that a 

 section of your article on "Vocations" anent india rub- 

 ber, which appeared in volume IV of the Young Folks' 

 Library, published by Hall & Locke Co., Boston, has been given 

 a new title, "In the Factory," and incorporated in the Riverside 

 Seventh Reader, published by the Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston. 

 Rarely is the work of a writer for the technical or trade 

 press classed as literature and accorded a place in book form 

 beside selections from such gifted pens as those of Longfellow, 

 Bryant, Stevenson, Holmes, Tliomas Bailey Aldrich, and John 

 Burroughs. May I not congratulate you on this well-merited 

 distinction? 



Sincerely yours, 



Madison R, Phillips. 

 Boston, Massachu.-etts, 



CANADIAN SOLDIER BECOMES RUBBER COMPO,UNDER. 



To THE Editor of The India Rubber World: 



DEAR SIR : — At present I am employed in the chemical de- 

 partment of a rubber factory in this city and am desirous of 

 becoming thoroughly familiar with general compounding for the 

 rubber trade. If there are any books I can procure on com- 

 pounding I would be much obliged for the names of them. I 

 might say I have had only a few months at the compounding 

 end of the game, having taken it up on being discharged from 

 the Canadian Army as unfit for further service through wounds, 

 I spent twenty-two months in France, and had the pleasure of 

 teaching some of the boys from the U. S. A. the system as used 

 in the Allied Armies. I was a first lieutenant. 

 Very trulv yours, 



C. H. Stanyon. 

 Toronto, Canada, 



AUTOMOBILE SHOWS CANCELED. 



The national automobile shows to have been held in New Y'ork 

 and Chicago have been canceled at the request of the War In- 

 dustries Board and promoters throughout the country have been 

 asked to abandon all plans for local shows of automobiles, trucks, 

 or accessories. 



Become a 

 Stamps, 



ckholder in the United States— buy War Sav 



